Seeing clearly: Frame Semantic, Psycholinguistic, and Cross ...

CHAPTER 2. A FRAME SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 79
The form see [that] S with the ensure sense (as in Ex. (40-b)) is distinguishable
from recognize mainly on pragmatic/discourse level evidence. There are, however, some
syntactic di erences, as well; ensure can be an imperative (Ex. (40-c)), while recognize
cannot (Ex. (40-d)), likewise, certain adverbs of manner are appropriate with recognize
(Ex. (40-e)) but not with ensure (Ex. (40-f)). All of these follow naturally from the
agentiveness of intentional causation.
The variety ofsyntactic realizations for see ensure might suggest that we will
need several constructions linked to this sense, but I believe that the single syntactically
underspeci ed construction given here will cover most uses. 12
(41) a. A: The cow needs milking.
b. B: I'll see to it.
c. I'll see to it that the cow gets milked.
d. I'll see to the milking of the cow.
e. I'll see to the cow.
Sense ENVISION
imagine
see envision
Frame imagine
type event
roles:
2
3
6Cognizerhuman
7
4
5
Contentthing _ soa
restr: irrealis(Content)
This frame includes both \forming a mental image of", related to the use of see,
hear, smell, taste and feel with irrealis objects, as in Ex. (42) (a-e), and more abstract
12 Wewillhave to list separately the collocation see to it S n, which uses this sense, because of the unique
syntax and the speci city of the lexical items involved. Some interesting things happen when part of this
pattern is omitted; in Ex. (41), given the two conversational turns in (a) and (b), speaker B could intend
Ex. (41-c), Ex. (41-d), or Ex. (41-e). In Ex. (41-e), the it functions like an \expletive" (It is important that
...); in Ex. (41-d), its antecedent istheVPing, and in Ex. (41-e), its antecedent isthe cow, which in turn
is metonymic for the actions needed to take care of the cow. All three can lead to the proper understanding
of the reply in the given context.